Marathon Coach sales strategy

[Ray Davis]

I did purchase my first bus on Ebay. I actually pushed the "Buy it Now" button for $150k! (still only gives you one point on your profile!)

But, I had called the seller, and indicated it was conditional on me flying up, seeing the bus, and approving.

I also purchased a $50k Corvette on Ebay too. So, here it is, I had purchased $200,000 worth of goods on Ebay, and I had a positive score of 2!

Ray

[Tully]

Purchased my first RV- 1995 American Dream for $50,000. Bought a 1988 Porsche 928 for $18,000. Bought a Cadillac Allante for $12,500. I have 99.9% feed-back. Only one bad deal - A 1974 Plymouth Cuda I bought for $18,000 and it was a dog. Not as described. Put back on Ebay with proper description and only lost $500.00.

I have been lucky.

Tully Lee

* Of course, I look at feed back rating and talk to person at great length to get the proper vibe.

[garyde]

There are plenty of auto dealers which advertise on e bay. check out the ferrari's, Bentley's, Porsche, and others. Most are listed by Dealers from everywhere in the country. I wouldn't mind buying thru one of them with certain conditions.
John is right about the bidding however. I have bid on a few auto's and have never been able to ring the bell. It seems there is always a phantom bidder who is always $1000.00 ahead of me. What's the point if your going to pay the 'buy it now' price.

[tdelorme]

Here is a legit looking eBay auction with no reserve. Starting bid looks reasonable as well. The ad needs more info on the coach but the seller does list his telephone number. I'll bet this one sells.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2001-...spagenameZWDVW

[Petervs]

Ted
I disagree, this bus will not sell on ebay. The seller says he might remove the auction at any time because it is for sale locally. Since the starting bid is about half the going price, and there is no reserve, this seller will yank the auction right near the end if there are not some bids bringing the price to where he wants it.

I have seen this happen many times. It looks tempting. Then it is gone.

If you place a bid, and nobody else does, then you might just think you are getting a bargain, then the rug gets pulled at the last second.

There is no free lunch!

But, ebay is a very effective advertising tool as has been mentioned above.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

With the way some folks are reacting to the changes in the economy and diesel prices I am not sure that $250,000 price is bogus.

On paper we all have lost a ton of equity because the market has become irrational and actual prices seem to be dropping faster than most folks realize.

[Ray Davis]

As someone who is actively looking, I've found prices all over the board. There are a few very good deals out there now. It seems strange, but there seems to be a lot of deals on Vantare at the moment.

On the other hand, there are still many sellers who cling to their high prices, and won't budge from it. One of the coaches I've been very intersted is like that. The customer wants about $50k to $75k more than it's really worth. But, he sells high end cars at very high prices, and won't be scared into selling lower.

So, it's a mixed bag out there at the moment. Generally it feels like XL prices are more affected than XL2, but that's probably not really the case. The two Vantare units I'm thinking of are both XL2 models.

Ray

[jello_jeep]

Ray,,,, from Marathon, to vantare ?? .... OHHHHHhhhh... the shame....
Just kiddin...

[Ray Davis]

Jello,

It doesn't hurt to look! Only one I'm not looking at this point is CC, due to the shabby treatment when I needed service.

Primary focus is Marathon, with Liberty second. Marathon is a better choice service-wise for those of us on the west coast, with a new service center in Beaumont, and the factory north in OR.

Ray

[Jon Wehrenberg]

"As someone who is actively looking, I've found prices all over the board. There are a few very good deals out there now. It seems strange, but there seems to be a lot of deals on Vantare at the moment."

Anyone want to take bets that the fact that some Vantare coaches are being given away has something to do with the fact they were dumping new inventory a few months back? Vantare $hit in its own nest and its customers are going to pay.